There’s no question that the St. Louis Blues are the favorites going into this afternoon’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers. In fact, now that they have goaltender Ryan Miller, just about any team that faces the Blues are the underdogs.
That doesn’t mean that Blues coach Ken Hitchcock is underestimating the Flyers though. In fact, he holds them in very high regard.
“If I was in the East, I’d be really nervous to play them,” Hitchcock said, per the Philadelphia Inquirer. “They look like a team right now that not only has a lot of resolve, but they are fully committed to checking.”
Hitchcock predicted that the Flyers will be “a bear in the playoffs.”
He has a history with the Flyers as their former head coach for parts of four seasons starting with 2002-03. The Flyers got over 100 points in each of Hitchcock’s first three campaigns with the team and he led them to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2004.
This will be the Blues’ first meeting against the Flyers this season and they will play again on April 1. After that, they won’t face each other again unless they both make it to the Stanley Cup Final -- which by the sounds of things, is a scenario that wouldn’t shock Hitchcock.